Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

Overview

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private arts university with campuses in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, and a location in Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978, SCAD has grown into one of the largest arts universities in the United States. The School of Film and Acting and the School of Animation and Motion administer the film, television, animation, visual effects, and sound design programs. More than 15,000 SCAD alumni work in the entertainment industry across film, television, animation, and digital media.

Georgia's 30% transferable film tax credit has transformed the state into one of the largest production centers in the United States. SCAD has positioned itself to capitalize on this shift: the Atlanta campus places students in direct proximity to studios and production companies including Tyler Perry Studios, and the Savannah campus houses the largest and most comprehensive university film studio complex in the nation. Students regularly work as crew on professional productions shooting in the state, gaining paid on-set experience while still enrolled.

In 2025, 137 SCAD alumni and students contributed to 18 Oscar-nominated films, including five Best Picture nominees (Wicked, Dune: Part Two, The Wild Robot, Inside Out 2, and Anora). The SCAD Savannah Film Festival is the largest university-organized film festival in the world, screening Academy Award-nominated films and bringing industry professionals to campus each year.

Programs Offered

• BFA in Film and Television - undergraduate production covering directing, cinematography, editing, sound, and producing. 48-month duration.
• MFA in Film and Television - graduate production with specializations across production disciplines.
• BFA in Animation - one of the largest animation programs in the country, covering 2D, 3D, and stop-motion.
• MFA in Animation - graduate-level animation with industry pipeline training.
• BFA in Visual Effects - compositing, CG, and effects integration.
• BFA in Sound Design - SCAD is the only university to confer undergraduate and graduate degrees in sound design. Academy Award, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning faculty prepare students for careers in film, television, game audio, music composition, and music production.
• BFA in Sequential Art - comics, storyboarding, and graphic narrative.
• BFA in Production Design - includes costume design, set design, and prop-making.

Facilities and Equipment

Savannah Film Studios

The Savannah Film Studios site is an 11-acre complex at 2315 Louisville Road, Savannah. The original 22,000-square-foot building (a former meatpacking plant) opened in 2014 and houses three soundstages, greenrooms, lighting grids, post-production suites, a multipurpose recording booth for ADR and Foley, screening rooms, and production offices.

A three-phase expansion announced in 2021 has transformed the site:

• LED Volume Stage (opened fall 2021): 40 x 20 x 17-foot LED wall screen with 1.5mm pixel pitch, powered by Unreal Engine for real-time 3D rendering. Camera tracking via stYpe RedSpy system with a Red Komodo 6K camera fitted with Zeiss lenses. This is the same technology used on The Mandalorian and Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
• Backlot Phase 1 (opened fall 2023): 4,500+ square feet of set space with 17 street facades resembling Savannah's historic district, including homes, a cafe, a hardware store, and a hotel/hospital lobby.
• Backlot Phase 2 (opened fall 2024): New York City-inspired urban environments with alleys aged for period pieces, a 1960s gas station, and a 17,000 sq. ft. production design building with a modern costume shop, sewing labs, an industrial garment conveyor for costume storage, and a prop-making studio with woodcutting, welding, and painting tools.
• Backlot Phase 3 (scheduled for completion 2026): Two industry-standard soundstages, a police station, a fully constructed single-family home, a town square, and 11 classrooms.

The backlot currently consists of over 40 separate street facades and more than 8,000 square feet of interior dressed set space. SCAD also operates a second LED volume stage at its Atlanta campus.

Post-Production and Sound

Editing suites are equipped with Mac Pros running Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects, and Final Cut Pro X. The Dolby Atmos mixing stage features an Avid S6 mixing console. Sound design students record ADR and Foley in cutting-edge recording studios.

Tuition and Fees

2026-27 Undergraduate

2026-27 Graduate

Tuition, fees, and housing charges are expected to increase 3% to 6% annually. SCAD offers merit scholarships and financial aid. The cost of living in Savannah and Atlanta is significantly lower than in Los Angeles or New York, which reduces the overall financial burden. Students should consult the SCAD tuition and fees page for current rates and the cost of attendance calculator for estimated total expenses.

Standout Faculty

SCAD's film and television faculty are working producers, directors, and cinematographers based in Savannah and Atlanta, with the school's scale allowing for a large faculty roster across production, animation, visual effects, and sound design.

• D. W. Moffett - Chair, Film and Television. Actor and producer with credits including Traffic, Thirteen, Falling Down, Pacific Heights, Black Widow, and Stealing Beauty. Teaches film and television department leadership.
• Michael Kinney - Film and Television Professor and Graduate Coordinator. Director of The Good Die Young (feature acquired by Amazon), with international commercials for Snickers, DirecTV, Ford, and Discover Card. Teaches screenwriting, film and video production, directing, cinematography, and film history.
• Brett Wagner - Associate Chair, Film and Television. Director of The Big Bend (feature) and Care (starring Rachel Brosnahan). Teaches film and television.
• Scott Ballard - Associate Chair, Film and Television. Cinematographer on 9 narrative features and 3 documentary features. Teaches film and television.
• Jesse Wolfe - Film and Television Professor. Director of Miami Carver, Homeless, the Hurricane, and A Boy Called Fish. Directs the Savannah Film and Video Festival. Teaches film and television.
• Daniel Rosen - Film and Television Professor. Teaches screenwriting, television writing, short film writing, and film history.

Notable Alumni

SCAD has 15,000+ alumni in the entertainment industry. Recent Oscar-connected alumni include:

• Wyatt Garfield (BFA Film and Television, 2007) - Cinematographer on A Different Man (2025 Oscar nominee, Best Makeup and Hairstyling).
• Katerina Kojeva (BFA Production Design, 2016) - Costume concept artist on Wicked (2025 Oscar nominee, Best Picture and Best Costume Design).
• Kayli Carter (BFA Performing Arts, 2015) - Actress in A Complete Unknown (2025 Oscar nominee, Best Picture).

• Alyssa Bracken (BFA Production Design, 2012) - Assistant costume designer on A Complete Unknown.
• Ryan Gillis (BFA Computer Art, 2004) - VFX department supervisor on Wicked.
• Hyun Huh (BFA Computer Art, 1999) - VFX modeling supervisor on The Wild Robot (2025 Oscar nominee, Best Animated Feature).
• Gina Niespodziani (BFA Animation, 2011) - Visual effects artist on Oscar-nominated films.
• Janicza Bravo - Director of Zola (2021).
• India Arie - Musician and filmmaker.

What Students Should Know

SCAD's primary advantage is scale. The school enrolls thousands of students across its arts programs, which means extensive equipment inventories, large facility footprints, and a wide range of elective options. Students who thrive in larger academic environments with diverse artistic communities will find SCAD energizing. Students seeking a smaller conservatory-style program should consider dedicated film schools like AFI or UNCSA instead.

Georgia's production ecosystem is a genuine asset. Students regularly work as crew on professional productions shooting in the state, gaining paid on-set experience while still enrolled. This production proximity gives SCAD students a practical edge that most schools outside Los Angeles and New York cannot match. SCAD also operates two professionally run casting offices.

The animation program is particularly strong, with graduates working at Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks, and Cartoon Network. The sound design program is unique: SCAD is the only university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the discipline. The SCAD Savannah Film Festival brings industry professionals to campus each year, creating networking opportunities and screening Oscar contenders before awards season.

Savannah and Atlanta both have significantly lower costs of living than Los Angeles or New York. At $42,975 per year for 2026-27, undergraduate tuition is lower than many peer institutions including NYU, USC, and Columbia. However, total cost of attendance including SCAD housing and living expenses should be compared carefully against public university film programs, particularly for in-state Georgia residents.

Student Film Examples

SCAD student films screen at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, the largest university-organized film festival in the world. The festival screens Academy Award-nominated films and brings industry professionals to campus each year. Students regularly work as crew on professional productions shooting in Georgia, gaining paid on-set experience while still enrolled.

See Also

For understanding how state film incentives affect production geography, see Film Tax Credits Explained. To explore visual effects workflows, use the VFX Breakdown Calculator. For planning production budgets for student films, use the Production Budget Calculator.